Across This New Divide
by Politelycynical
Summary: ONESHOT: Dennis was made to be the brave one- the provider and the fixer. He wasn't good at things like buying presents for a nine-year old's birthday or talking to his very pretty roommate.


Dennis glanced around the kitchen floor looking for any spots that he may have missed. The tiles were shiny and pristine with bleached white, even grout lines. He felt his mind calm at the sight. It was perfect. Not a speck in sight. His heart stopped racing, and his breathing evened out.

Their new house was spotless. All of the white, cubed dishware that Casey had helped him pick out at _Bed, Bath, and Beyond_ was evenly spaced across the open kitchen shelf design. He had touched up the paint on the wall that Hedwig had scuffed the other day while skateboarding across the hardwood. After that he had spent the afternoon scouring every surface and hanging the few pictures that he and Barry agreed on in symmetrical alignment.

Getting out of the city felt freeing. The farmhouse was in a rural county where buying real estate resulted in more bang for your buck.

They had the privacy that he and the others had longed for. Their driveway was a quarter of a mile from the road. It felt good to be away from prying eyes—even better than living underground at the zoo. He had put together a swing set in the backyard for Hedwig, who was so delighted with it that he cried- his joy was just too overwhelming to handle. For the first time, Hedwig was able to play outside without anyone giving him weird looks for looking out of place on a playground.

He checked the floor one more time and placed a crisp black checkmark on his to-do list.

Just one more item left, but first he needed to freshen up. His shirt was looking a little wrinkled- the starch having worn away during his vigorous scrubbing of the floors. He ascended up the stairs to the second level, thanking whoever was up there for the blessing of having his own room. The large farmhouse layout had enough rooms for the four active alters and Casey to each have a space to call their own.

He couldn't emphasize how nice it was to wake up without Barry's fucking cereal bowls on the nightstand.

He quickly changed into a fresh set of his usual outfit and washed his hands before sitting at his desk and opening his laptop.

He heard the front door open downstairs. "I'm home!" Casey called up the staircase. "I bought groceries!"

"I'm upstairs." He called back loud enough for her to hear him.

"Be up in a second, Dennis!" She yelled back from the bottom of the stairwell.

He smiled a little. Casey had gotten to where she could tell them apart without fail. Even without seeing them or having a lengthy conversation, she knew who they were at any given moment.

Dennis loaded up their Amazon Prime account and pondered. Next Tuesday was the fifteen anniversary since Hedwig had been born into existence. Though Hedwig would always be nine- they still celebrated his birthday every year.

Dennis took his glasses off and rubbed the crease between his eyes warily.

Normally Hedwig would drop hints leading up to his birthday, or Barry would make a few suggestions, but this year it seemed to have slipped everyone's minds due to the great task of moving out of the city.

Dennis wasn't good at this kind of thing. He was made to be the brave one- the provider and the fixer. While he knew that Hedwig could use some undershirts and socks, the obvious and practical choice of a present- he also knew that Hedwig would hate that kind of gift, and that the other alters would heckle him for it.

He had made that mistake before.

He groaned and cradled his head in his hands. He straightened up when he heard Casey coming up the stairs. He glanced out of his doorway to see her duck into her own room and then a second later she emerged sans sneakers while pulling a freshly laundered shirt on over her undershirt.

He smiled.

She flopped back on his bed, her pale skin looking nice against the navy linens.

"I got everything on the list. Well, everything except Barry's pancetta. I guess there's not much demand for it at the Piggly Wiggly in Cow-town, Nowhere. I got bacon instead." She scooted up his bed and laid back on his pillow. "I hope he doesn't mind."

"He'll get over it." He said gruffly.

"The town is real nice. They have this pretty gazebo near the courthouse that looked like it would be in an old movie, you know?"

"Hm."

Dennis typed in the search bar "birthday present".

6,925,801 results.

 _Damnit._

"And there was a farmer parked out in front of the grocery store with the whole back of his truck full of watermelons."

"Did you get one?" Dennis didn't look away from the screen.

"Yes. I saw online where you can cut it up into triangles and stick popsicle sticks in it for kids. It'll look cute and be practical. I figured we could have it at Hedwig's birthday party."

"Good idea." He said quietly.

"I opened a window downstairs by the way." Casey rolled on her side toward him and propped her head up on her hand.

He glanced at her.

"Did you happen to use a shit ton of bleach downstairs?" She asked smiling at him.

"Yes."

"I'm surprised the fire alarm didn't go off. It almost knocked me down when I came in."

"I took the batteries out." Dennis turned back to the computer, briefly rubbing the red skin on his hands. He was used to it. Bleach was unforgiving on skin, but it was effective against germs.

He needed to narrow his results down. Some of the items were clearly for someone much older than Hedwig and some were fairly inappropriate. His search results included pencil sets, tiaras, a coffee mug with the definitions of various expletives, and a princess popup house.

He only had four days to narrow seven million items down to one perfect present for Hedwig and have it shipped on time.

Maybe Hedwig would like the pencil set? Dennis tried to imagine what Barry would say about a pencil set, but his imagination failed him because he could only envision the smaller man laughing at him.

"Earth to Dennis..." Casey called out from his bed.

He glanced at her and rubbed a tired hand across his closely shorn hair.

"You okay over there?" Her tight fitting shirt and position made Casey look curvier than normal. Her waist tapered below her breasts before widening at her hips. Dennis barely minded that she was rumpling his sheets.

"Hedwig's birthday is soon." Dennis explained.

"Uh-huh," Casey said sitting up.

"Do you think he would like a pencil set?" He asked quietly.

"Colored pencils?"

"Number two. Graphite. They're Christmas themed."

Casey made her 'yikes' face. "It's July." Dennis' shoulders slumped.

"Do you want help?" She stood beside the computer chair, looking at the search results, and smiling at the search criteria.

"Yes please." Dennis forced himself to not smell her hair when she leaned in beside him, her torso dangerously invading in on his vicinity.

"Don't tell him," Casey forewarned, "But I got Hedwig a case of art supplies. It has watercolors, pastels, and yes, pencils." She smiled down at him as she clicked through the departments and narrowed down the search criteria. "Here. Choose anything on this page."

"I thought you were going to help me pick." Dennis grumbled. "I'm not good at this."

"C'mon," She propped her chin on his shoulder lazily as she looked at the screen with him. "It's supposed to be a present from you. I want to see what you pick."

The weight of her against his shoulder was nice. He liked it when she was close to him. She always smelled like vanilla.

Focus.

Casey's revised page had coloring books, step-by-step drawing guides, and origami sets.

A thumbnail caught his eye. It was a brightly colored lighthouse by the beach. "What exactly is paint-by-numbers?" Dennis clicked into it.

Casey kept her chin on his shoulder. One of her hands rest on the desktop in front of them. The other was on his shoulder- a spark radiated from where she was touching him and traveled through him all the way down to his toes. "It comes with all the colors you need. The picture is already drawn and all the sections are labeled. If you follow the instructions, you'll end up with the picture on the box." She explained.

"Should I get the lighthouse or the carnival?" He said, looking at the options. He turned towards her, immediately regretting it. She was so close, he could have counted her eyelashes if needed.

He heard her breath hitch. She stood and sat down primly on the edge of his bed, smiling awkwardly for a moment. He wondered what her body language meant. Did she suddenly realize how close they were and retreated from him in disgust? He would need to ask Barry. He made a mental note.

"You should get both." She grinned conspiratorially. "That is unless you're too scared of hurting your precious budget with a little spontaneity," She teased, her eyes shimmering and challenging him.

He grinned back at her. "What the hell." He added them both to the cart as Casey clapped her hands in celebration, plopping back down on his bed.

Casey told him more about what she had seen in town while he checked out online.

He smiled at the screen. Her reaction to the surprise double-present for Hedwig was cute. Besides, Dennis knew he could fix the budget.


End file.
